AMELS drinking water systems reduce plastic waste

Inspired by yacht owners and crews and to coincide with World Environment Day, AMELS announced that it is designing drinking water purification systems into all new AMELS Limited Editions yacht projects. These systems can save thousands of plastic bottles a year to tackle the global plastic waste problem, while providing very pleasant-tasting and safe drinking water.

Although AMELS has used desalination watermakers for decades, the yard has now also designed remineralisation and purification systems into its new Limited Editions yachts just before the tap point. This means crews have convenient access to great-tasting water – made by the yacht itself – wherever in the world they are. Options include carbonated water and chilled water, and can be used for guests as well as crew.

A great recent example is the AMELS 242 yacht NEW SECRET, delivered in 2017. “On NEW SECRET we came up with a system so we can drink our own tap water,” says the Build Captain Remo Mayer. “We have stainless steel bottles for the whole crew and we save up to about 10,000 plastic bottles a year. That’s maybe a small step, but I think more ships should do it. It’s good for the environment to have something like this in place.”

As well as tackling plastic waste, the system also reduces the logistical demands of shipping water bottles, storing them on board and shore disposal of the empty bottles. Even though yacht crews responsibly dispose of plastic water bottles when they reach the shore, recycling infrastructure is not always in place. The new drinking water system is a great way to reduce the plastic footprint of yacht ownership.